The Assassin
by Jaded Kitten
Summary: On a job to stop a target that could alter the world Kalysta finds herself thrown into a world not of her own. There she will have to fight through her demons as well as the demons of the knight she was sent back to save. But is it his life or his heart?
1. The Mission

**Disclaimer: _I do not own the knights or anything that has to do with King Arthur. Though I wouldn't mind having a few in my possession...if only...hehe..._**

**Chapter 1:** The Mission

She knew that this whole situation was now far from her control. Things had finally reached their boiling point, all coming to a head at this awkward and unruly moment. No matter, little twist like this made things all the more interesting.

She honestly did love when things became interesting. This, awkward as it were, seemed to be no exception to the rules. She had a fifty percent chance of having the advantage to be able to handle things.

These situations seemed to always give her that happy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Well, at least until things turned against her favor. Then that feeling turned into nothing more than nausea.

Now, you probably want to know what this interesting thing might be. Well, you'll be told everything. Once, it has been explained of how things had led to this in the first place.

Well, don't get upset...you have to know the beginning before we can discuss her current predicament. Now calm down and listen.

Are we ready? Well, let's begin...shall we?

It had been another droning day at the office, even though your everyday person would say otherwise. No, to most her job was far from ordinary or boring, for that matter. The job of an elite assassin was far from it, but for someone who had been recruited into such a life since the age of fourteen, it was just that...ordinary.

By all means, she had plenty of assignments, possibly more assignments than half of the agents that she worked around. It was something she was bothered with for being the best and youngest, but she was also a little cocky; she had finished all of her contracts for the week in less than four days, three days earlier than her deadline. Oh yes, even in this business you had deadlines. This was the reason for her recent boredom.

You see, our main character had spent nine years since her allowed access into this secret underworld training in everything from jujitsu to kick boxing. She learned to swiftly take care of a hit with nothing more than everyday appliances to the most high-tech and secretive of gadgets. She even learned ballet and gymnastics to horseback riding, but that was all for her own amusement.

Our young heroin or villain, if you like, went by the name Kalysta. Was it her real name? No, but no one knew her real name or anything about her life before joining the underworld, save one. Even how she came to be an elite assassin was a complete mystery; it was as if she appeared overnight. It seemed her title of being the second top assassin came over night as well. Who's the first if not her, you ask?

Well, the first top assassin went by the name Malania; she seemed to be a mystery to the whole corporation. No one knew how she looked or when she came and went. The only person that ever saw her face was Ariel; he was also the only one that even knew of her origins. It was his job to know the origins and background on all of his recruits. Yet, the others knew nothing of the woman...not even her eye color or height, but they all knew her work; clean, quiet and artful.

What's so important about Malania and Ariel, what roles do they play in this tale? Well, all will be told as the story evolves. For now, let's return to the character at hand.

Kalstya sat with her legs extended over each other on top of the glass desk in front of her, head propped back and eyes closed. She had given up making herself useful with the Mac in front of her. After scanning their system's database a hundred times to familiarize herself with information on possibly her next "client" she found herself to be useless at the moment.

What was a girl to do? Slowly she lowered her legs, coming into a sitting position before rising. She made her way down the long hall, not bothering to waste time greeting anyone she passed; she was never one to bother with formalities unless having to, even then it was a rare thing.

Her fingers gracefully brushed over the engravings that adorned the two oak wood doors before her. She thought the ancient engravings were beautiful, the language of old was skillfully craved into the fine wood, each skillful letter staring her in the face and begging to be admired. Her fingers traced over one of the simple golden door knob before turning it to enter.

She sighed among finding the room to be empty. _'He must be in a meeting._' she thought, taking her time to study her surroundings. The warmth and comfort feeling of the room gave her an unwanted nostalgic yearning for a past that was far too distant and painful for her to want to give into remembering. She shook away the feeling, her eyes scanning over the ancient weapons that decorated the walls. Her fingers traced over an oriental sword, a cocky smile pulled at her corners, taking the weapon from its resting place.

"My...aren't you a beauty..." Slowly she twirled the weapon around in her hand before smoothly slicing the air. Her smile seemed to widen as she moved around the room, slicing and twirling the instrument with every step, transfixed in some unknown dance.

She turned on her heels bringing the sword down in a side ways slice, the sound of steel hitting steel began ringing through her ears. Her eyes trailed up the opposing blade, finally locking with the pair of coffee brown eyes that stared back at her. A devious grin formed on the owner of those eyes as his sword was removed from hers, slowly positioning him self into a defensive stance.

"How is it, that of all the people in the world, you seem to be one of two that always gets passed me undetected?" The girl lunged at the man only to have him skillfully block without even blinking.

"Really?" He gracefully side stepped her second attack.

"Yes...you are..." She gasped for air, moving quickly to her left, coming close to receiving injury from his attack upon her. Unfortunately her sleeve didn't fair so well.

"Honestly...it's quite unnerving..." She tried to catch her breathe only to have to dodge another attack.

"And the second?" He took a step backwards, his body relaxing before resting his sword upon his shoulder.

Kalysta stayed in her defensive stance. "What?" She stared at the man in a bit of confusion.

"You said I was one of two...who's the other?" He raised an eyebrow, staring at the girl curiously.

"Oh..." Kalysta relaxed, finally taking that much needed breathe. "...that...the others Malania..."

"Hmm..." Without another word he placed both weapons back in their rightful locations among the wall before nestling into the comfy black leather chair behind his desk. His eyes locked onto the girl, motioning for her to take the seat across from him. "Well, I am older and more experienced."

"Experienced...yes...but I don't believe your being eight years older than I really makes a difference."

"Really, why is this?"

"Ariel really...I'm younger than many of your recruits...and yet I out rank them."

"You have a point."

"Then there's you..."

"What about me?"

"Your abilities surpasses us all, even the abilities of those that have been here since your father managed this corporation."

"I believe you underestimate-"

"Underestimate my ass...you are better than us all and you know it." Kalstya folded her arms across her chest, sighing deeply. "There is only one that might be matched in your skills."

"Of course...you..."

"Me? No...Malania...she is far more satisfied with the task of killing than I am. She kills out of satisfaction; I kill because it is my job."

"You kill for revenge." Kalysta jaws tightened at his blunt use of words. Ariel moved around the desk, leaning his statuesque frame on the edge. His eyes gazed firmly down at the girl, folding his arms before letting out a sigh, pushing back his dark wavy mane. "Kalysta you seek vengeance against those that have wronged you and everyone else. Sadly, you are an assassin with a heart...but...that doesn't change the fact that you are more skilled than Malania could ever be."

"Vengeance is not what I seek...and an assassin with a heart, I am not. Whatever little heart I had...died…along with _them_ that night." She stared up into his eyes; the coldness that appeared in her brown orbs seemed to have vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "But honestly Ariel...you do not need to appease my ego, even if your compliment was momentary."

"No...I'm sure you appease it enough yourself..." His eyes scanned over the girl, a flirtatious grin forming on his face. "Besides, I'd rather enjoy appeasing other things."

"Ariel...please..."

"Yes...yes...always business with you...never time for play. I assume you've done the background check I've asked of you?"

"Yes...more times than I can count. You do know how to keep a girl waiting. Other girls would have given up on waiting on you to receive them."

"Well, it's a good thing you aren't like other girls, isn't it?" He gave her a sly grin.

"Yes it is. Now, what is it about this scientist, Dr. Talbot, that makes him such a threat to us all that I must-"

"I'm beginning to think that you didn't do a very good job in your research."

"On the contrary, I researched as much as I could find. I even know the last time he took a shit, but nothing that explains why he seems to be a threat. Just unfounded information about him possibly building something."

"Yes...and this something is the reason for his needed termination, at least partly." Taking along sigh, he continued with his explaining. "You have heard the rumors of a possible rogue agent, have you not?"

"Yes...but-"

"Well, they are true. There is someone within the underground that's killing off the people in charge of every underground corporation. Who ever this is...is killing for power, it seems." Kalysta tried to digest this new found information completely. Finally she locked eyes with him, opening her mouth to speak.

"What role does this scientist play in this matter?"

"We have reason to believe that he has aligned himself with this agent. If he has and he finishes building that weapon, we will have no chance in stopping them."

"You want me to dispose of him and destroy this...thing, is that it?" He nodded in agreement.

"All the necessities have been dealt with. I don't want you dealing with his little invention, bring it here and my team will take care of it. Understood?" He handed her a file containing any other information on the man that she might need.

"Yes." She rose from her chair, tucking the file under her arm. She took two steps towards the door before turning around to find him standing behind her. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes..." His fingertips brushed her soft skin before they fiddled with the ruined sleeve of her shirt. "You could allow me the pleasure of you...your company...for lunch."

The girl smiled coyly, grabbing his hand to remove them from her. Turning, she made for the door, opening it before looking back at Ariel once more. "I have work to do...you understand." She closed the door behind her, leaving Ariel grinning at the door.

"So, she's better than me is she?" Ariel turned towards the figure that now occupied his chair.

"Malania...I was wondering when you would come out of your little hiding space." He walked over to his desk, the smile still evident. "But, I must say, it's very rude to listen in on others conversations."

"When my name is presented I like knowing the reason for it."

"Hmm...So I see you have been making yourself known to our young agent." Malania rose for the chair, making her way over to the man. Her fingers caressed his crimson tie before gliding over his black button up.

"Not really...but even the shadow gets curious sometimes." Her crystal grey eyes stared into his, a sensuous grin played at her lips as she began to fiddle with his shirt buttons. "Besides, she's not that young...I only have her beat by two years."

Ariel smiled down at the girl, intrigued by her small sign of jealousy. He let his fingers comb threw her jet black hair, leaving it to caress her skin before cupping her cheek. "My dear...beautiful Malania...what in the world am I going to due with you?" He brushed her lips with his before finally deepening the kiss.


	2. Betrayal Is Oh So bittersweet

So far Kalysta found her job to be quite easy. After taking the necessary precautions to sneak into the building that held the doctor's lab she had found it all unnecessary. All the sneaking through vents, the dodging of surveillance cameras so she wouldn't be seen was all unnecessary. By the time she had made it into the security room, she found it to be completely unoccupied and no signs of the surveillance system ever being on. Either something was off here or the doc couldn't afford the needed security any longer.

Kalysta scanned the dimly lit room, fiddling with the front zipper of her fitted black bodysuit. There was nothing that she could even find out of place that would have told her otherwise. She took a long sigh as she left the room, heading down the long hall towards the lab. The deadly silence seemed to play on her nerves, more so than she would have liked. Something wasn't right about this, yet she wasn't going to turn her back on her job because of a feeling.

Her guard seemed to increase once reaching the soft colored steel door, taking a moment to study the interior of the room through the rectangle window. As far as she could tell, this room wasn't any different than the last room she was in. The place was completely empty, with the exception of strange bottled liquids and odd contraptions lying about. Still there seemed to be no sign of life in this room as well.

Kalysta sighed out of irritation; this mission was doing nothing but playing on her nerves. She scanned the hall, searching her surrounding environment for some kind of confirmation that this was the right room. She found no other doors, no other passages, and the flickering light above her seemed to emphasize that she was indeed in the right place.

With ease she entered the lab, her eyes continuously searching for some sign of life. Never removing her eyes from her surroundings, she knelt to remove the blade hidden under her pant leg. Sure the thing might make things messier and a little more complicated then a gun of some sort but it was far lighter to carry around. Too bad she might find herself regretting that decision.

Twirling the blade in-between her small fingers, she continued her search for the good doctor, until her eyes fell on a figure in the back of the room. She smiled, moving towards the figure.

"Oh come on." She let out in annoyance upon finding the flowing trail of blood seeping from the small hole in the center of his forehead. If it wasn't for that she would have thought he was simply sleeping.

Kalysta turned on her heels; throwing the blade with so much force it deeply embedded itself into the cement wall, just inches from the new figure in the room.

"What the hell Malania? That was my target."

"Aw, what's the matter? Is the little kitten upset?" The girl teased coldly, pulling the blade from the wall with such ease that it was unnerving, never breaking the eye contact between the two. "My, you really need to control your temper. You could have really hurt someone with this." She smiled evilly before throwing the weapon back at the girl.

Kalysta tilted to her head to the left, the edge of the blade still making enough contact to leave a mark on the side of her face. She flinched at the sudden presence of a stinging pain the mark caused. She wipe at the trickle of blood that now graced her cheek, her glare upon the girl across from her becoming even colder than before.

"So you're the thorn in the undergrounds side."

"Did you take time out of inflaming your pathetic little ego to figure that out? I'm flattered."

"Wow! As much as I love this little conversation, the flattery, and the fact that you came out of your little shadow to do it all, I have a job to do. So, how about you hand over the late doctor's invention and save yourself an ass kicking."

"Oh, I think not." Slowly she opened her hand to reveal a small contraption that fit snugly within her palm. "Did Ariel even tell you what this thing is capable of?" She gave the girl a once over. "Of course not. Why would he share information like that with you? This, my cocky friend, controls time. I can travel it, freeze it, change it, and speed it up. Hell, anything I can think of I can do with this little baby. Too bad the doc didn't get a chance to enjoy it; maybe he could have changed his fate. Fortunately for you, you get to be the first to try this thing out.

Now this is where her situation from the beginning chapter comes into play. She could fight the girl and take the thing from her, or fight the girl and have God knows what happen to her if she failed. Decisions, decisions, they were never a good thing.

Kalysta took a breath, clearing her mind before delivering a roundhouse kick that sent the item flying across the room. _'So far, so good.'_ She continued her attack on the girl, her moves being matched blow by blow; neither giving up on this attempt to overpower the other.

Finally, Kalysta delivered another roundhouse, her heel connecting with the side of the others face, sending her spinning a few steps back. Kalysta let a cocky smile dance on her lips. She moved to grab the lost item only to feel cold metal pressed against her temple. Malania smiled evilly, wiping the blood from her own cheek before licking the substance from her fingers.

"I always said that you were better than Malania." She felt the weapon move from her temple, down her spine before settling in the center, nudging her to turn around. Malania took that moment to retrieve the mechanism from its resting spot before taking her place next to her partner in crime, glaring at him coldly for his last statement.

"Ariel…"

"Yes…yes, it is I. I'm the so called bad guy here and please don't give me that petty little question of why. Only morons would share such information." His smile widening as two armed men entered the room, both with their weapons pointed directly at her.

Kalysta paid the two new arrivals little attention, her eyes focusing only on him. Her anger building from the betrayal of someone she trusted. A punch to her stomach brought her back to the situation at hand; she buckled over, glaring up at a smug looking Malania. Kalysta's glare caused her to receive the back of the woman's hand. Ariel grabbed hold of her arm before she could do any more damage.

"Now, now Malania. There's no need for such violence."

"No one causes me to bleed my own blood and lives"

Ariel ignored the girl's last statement, handing one of the men his gun before kneeling in front of Kalysta. Roughly, he yanked back her hair, enjoying the hate he saw in her eyes. He smiled adoringly at her, caressing her face with his free hand before leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"It's a shame that you're going to go to waste. If only you would have taken me up on one of my offers, you could have been standing at my side instead of her."

"You're so full of it."

He let out a laugh while rising to his feet; he took the small device from Malania's hand.

"Hmm, maybe you're right. No, you still would have ended up here. Like I've said, you have a good heart."

Kalysta knew she only had a matter of seconds to figure something out. She was at a complete disadvantage here. The two gun men she could handle with ease, she could sense their nervousness. _'Rookies.'_ Yet, Ariel was another story and with the shadow queen helping him, her survival was uncertain. She closed her eyes, taking in a much needed breathe that allowed her nerves to subside a bit. She took only a second of her time to stare at the clock on the wall.

In one smooth movement she dealt a low spin kick to the first man, sending his gun flying. Without blinking she caught the weapon, putting a bullet in the two pathetic men before turning to her next victim. Quickly, she maneuvered the gun, using the hilt to hit Malania across the face before twisting the girl's arm behind her back, turning the gun correctly as she pressed it against the girl's skull. She glanced at the clock again. _'Ten seconds. I'm getting rusty.' _

She cracked her head from side to side; her eyes now focused on her most difficult opponent. The smile on his face never disappearing, it seemed to have widened. He had enjoyed her little show immensely.

"Still smiling, are we? I'm sure you won't be if a kill your little pet."

"No? Well, why don't we find out?" In seconds his expression had turned cold and ruthless. "Kill her."

She cocked her gun. A smile of her own began forming on her face. Before the bullet could leave the barrel she had turned it on Ariel. The bullet missed him and shattered the glass nearby, never once did he flinch.

Kalysta felt another blow to her stomach and then a high kick that sent her gun flying, landing in the hands of her enemy. The confusion of how the girl broke free evidently playing on her face. Her eyes searched for the spot where Ariel stood, as if she would find the answer in his gaze. _Empty._

Kalysta turned with pain penetrating her side, her eyes locking with that of Malania's. She was defeated with her own blade. She gasped for air through the pain, feeling rough hands grab her from behind, the warm breath against her neck.

"Did we forget about this?" His lips caressed her ear, holding her limp form study with one arm and dangling the small device in front of her with the other. "I'm sorry things had to end like this, love." He placed a soft kiss on her neck, much to Malania's dismay. "But, I can't have you ruining my plans."

A single tear escaped her, caressing her cheek as it traveled to her chin where it disappeared, taking with it her hatred and sadness before the darkness consumed her.

Ariel let Kalysta's lifeless body fall to the ground, placing himself in front of Malania. He let his fingertips caress her cheek, the warmth of his breath tickling her neck as leaned against her ear.

"You know I meant none of that, you're the only one I'd have by my side." Ariel saw what he thought was a smile, kissing her softly on the lips. He handed the girl the time device before turning his back to her. "I think we are done here." He took a second to smile back at the dark girl before heading for the door. "Let's go."

"Wait! You forgot something." Ariel turned around, finding cold metal to his forehead. Malania let a genuine smile spread across her features, giving Ariel the short belief that she wasn't being serious. "I never play second fiddle." The smile faded, pulling the trigger and ending his life. "It's done."

Malania tossed the device over her shoulder and landing in the hands of its rightful owner, Dr.Talbot. She made are way over to the body of Kalysta, nudging it roughly with her foot. In her efforts she received a groan from the girl. She ignored her, offering her hand for assistance.

"God, Malania. Did you actually have to stab me? Isn't there something against this type of shit?" The girl moaned, holding her side to stop the bleeding.

"What does this look like, the CIA? Besides, you'll live. I didn't hit any vital organs...unfortunately" Malania turned her attention to the scientist, eyeing him as he pulled the fake bullet hole from his head. "Are we done here?"

The Doctor smiled, wiping the fake blood with the back of his hand. "There is one more thing." His eyes locked with the wounded girl to his right. "You most go back." Kalysta took herself away from her own self pity to glare at the man oddly.

"I'm sorry…….what?"

"You most go back to fix the error which was made."

"Okay…looks like the good doc has finally lost his marbles." Kalysta mumbled, moving towards the door with a limp. "Listen, you just make sure that the money is placed into my off shore account without any glitches. Other than that, I'm done here."

"You can save them...the ones you lost." Kalysta stopped in her tracks, turning to stare at Malania for some confirmation that she had heard him right. The other girl never looked up, too busy trying to reach the clean up crew and Ariel's brother; the new boss. Finally, her eyes locked on his.

"I don't know how you know about _them_, but if you mention them again….I will kill you without a second thought." She tried to control what little she could of her anger.

"I see you will not make this any easier for me. You must go back and change your heart as well as his. If you lose your way, just look for me." Kalysta lunged for the device to try and stop the doc but it was too late, she was cast into darkness.

* * *

Thank you to the one person that reviewed this story...it means a lot to me to know your opinions on it. Thank you.  



	3. Air Ordered Bride?

Lancelot took a swig of his ale, enjoying the moments of joy and peace among his fellow knights when not called to fight off the persistent Saxons. Even though it felt awkward to fight along side them, he was glad for the new found harmony between them and the woads. At this point he didn't know if he could handle having to fight off two enemies at once. Then again he wouldn't be here if that were the case. His service to the dreadful Romans had ended a year ago today, the same year Arthur became king of this land. If it wasn't for this fact alone he and his fellow knights would be back in their home land of Sarmatia.

Of course they would have been bored to death living such a normal life after spending nearly their whole lives as knights. No, it was better that things turned out this way. The only down side was that the idiotic Saxons were more annoying to fight than the woads could have ever been.

He scanned the tavern before his eyes settled on the lone figure of Tristan. The man was leaning against the wall eating an apple, his eyes always watching, always knowing. It unnerved him when Tristan's eyes locked on his a second later. He tried to hide his demoralizing by raising his mug and giving the silent knight a cheerful grin. The knight just nodded and went back to his watching.

Lancelot sighed into his mug before swallowing another mouthful of the strong liquid, almost spilling half of it when Bors cuffed him on the back with his large and heavy hand. "Bloody…Bors…" He began wiping at the spilt ale with his hand.

"When you go'n to find yourself a lass?" The over-sized bear of a man asked, winking at the firry red head that passed.

"Bors, how can you ask such a thing? I find one every night, you know that." He winked at the nearest barmaid, pulling her into his lap, receiving a playful slap on the chest before the warmth of her body left his.

"You know what I mean." The other knights stopped what they were doing, all seeming interested in the elusive knight's reply. Lancelot sighed, placing his mug silently on the table before him. He took a moment to stare at each of the five knights before him.

"The day I settle down will be the day the beauties began falling from the sky." He opened his arms as if to make a point, finding them soon filled with the presence of a woman. He stared from the unconscious girl to the sky and then back again.

"Gawain…am I that inebriated or did one just fall from the sky?" Galahad slurred, turning his attention away from the girl in Lancelot's arms to his friend on his right.

"My young friend, you are always inebriated, but you are definitely not seeing things. At least, not this time." Never once did Gawain's eyes leave the scene before him.

Lancelot continued to stare at the unconscious being in his arms, unsure of what to do or how to react. "What dark trickery is this?"

Bors let out a roar of laughter, clamping the befuddled knight on the back once more.  
"Looks like ye got your wish lad."

"I said _beauties_, not _beauty_…I meant _more_ than one. So _this_ doesn't count."

"You'd say anything to get out of this, wouldn't you?" Galahad slurred with something close to a smile displayed awkwardly on his face.

Gawain focused his gaze to the sky. "Might I have one of those as well?" He raised his hands hopefully. Ready to receive a woman of his own while rambling off his likes and dislikes.

"Maybe the Gods find you to be too picky." Tristan stated, sliding another slice of his apple into his mouth. Dagonet laughed, patting the lion haired knight on the shoulder after a few seconds of waiting.

"Picky? Have you seen the rare and exotic beauty in his arms?"

"It seems that our friend here has all the luck." Galahad stumbled backwards into a chair, receiving laughs from his companions.

Everyone turned to the bundle in Lancelot arms at the sudden sound of a groan. Life had started to slowly come back into the girl, her eyes contracting in pain before opening slightly.

The dark haired knight stiffen under her gaze after locking onto his a few seconds later. Her shocked eyes staring into his confused ones. "I…um…well…how…um…hi!?!" He sighed out of irritation from sounding worse than Galahad trying to court one of the barmaids.

She stumbled out of his lap without saying a word. Her reaction and appearance causing her to look like a wild, out of place animal.

"It's alright fallen one…" Galahad wobbled towards her, in an attempt to calm her. Yet, his actions caused the opposite reaction. Before he could slur the last of his statement she bloodied his nose and kicked Gawain so hard that he was now spiting up blood, all in the matter of seconds.

Cautiously, Lancelot rose to his feet, his hands out in front of him, slowly advancing towards the irate, wild animal of a woman. "Now, now we're not going to hurt you." Bors and Dagonet backed him. Bors with his hand positioned on his weapon, ready to strike more than anyone.

"Latin?"

"Excuse me?" Lancelot stopped in his tracks at the sudden sound of the wild woman's voice. Her harsh tone sending a chill down his spine.

"You all speak…Latin?"

"What other language would we be speaking?"

"I don't know…how about English. Latin is a dead language that hasn't been spoken natively in centuries." Her tone never changed, even when her expression changed to confusion as she studied her odd environment.

"You jest. If this language is dead, as you claim. Then how is it that you speak it?" She stopped glancing around, her eyes locking on his. The rage in her eyes began to grow, apparently she didn't like being called a liar.

"It is a language that still can be learned. Besides, it's my job."

"And your job is?" He continued towards her once more, until he stood only inches away.

"Keep down this path and you just might find out." Her eyes became cold. The rage inside her building up so strong that it burnt him to his very core.

This girl was unnerving, almost as much as Tristan, if that was possible. The evil grin that pulled at her lips sent another chill down his spine. It was evident that she was going to take her anger out on them.

Lancelot swallowed hard, he was in no position to fight a woman. Defiantly not one as unsettling as this. "Look, we are only trying to help." He raised his hands in an attempt to prove his point. He saw something in her hesitate, momentarily cooling the fire within her before it ignited again.

It was then that he felt the blow to that sent him stumbling back a few feet, allowing him to taste the metallic saltiness of his own blood. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness the blow had cause, focusing his attention back on the woman before him and noticing the weapon she had used to injure him.

From some place she had pulled out a dagger, using the hilt to hit him before turning the sharp point of it to the throat of the knight that had silently lurked behind her. Bors and Dagonet weapons now drawn ready to attack if she decided to do anything stupid.

"You find many things…lurking in the shadows." The woman smirked, taking in a painful breathe of air.

The shock of being discovered showed on Tristan's face for a second before returning to its usual passive expression. Only his eyes portrayed his anger, his fiery burning stronger, more so, than her own.

It had become painful for her to breath. The pain showing through her tone, speaking through gritted teeth. "Shocked? Don't be, I've dealt with your kind…" She blinked a few times, her vision seeming to become blurry. "…before." She collapsed into the arms of the silent knight.

Tristan hoisted the girl in his arms, turning his gaze onto the dark knight. Slowly, he walked over to him, dropping the girl into his arms. "Be careful what you wish for." He patted the poor knight on the shoulder before picking up the dagger from where it had fallen. He stop at the sudden entrance of their King, the Queen and the red head Bors had eyed earlier, not to far behind.

Arthur eyed the scene before him, making quick note of the unconscious woman in his friend's arms. "Vanora told me that there was a woman making quick use of my knights." He scanned the tavern once more, noticing both Galahad and Gawain nursing their sore injuries. "I thought it was just a funny way to get me here to join in your merriment…from the looks of it…I was wrong."

Guinevere slowly helped Galahad to his feet, putting the cloth given to her by one of the barmaids gently to his bloodied nose. "The legendry Sarmatian knights beaten…by one woman!?!"

"And an injured one at that. Who did this?" Arthur pointed to the stab wound in her side. That no one had notice until now.

"No one." Tristan stood next to the large Roman, holding the dagger she had used on both he and Lancelot just minutes ago. "Not one of us were able to get close enough to touch her." He handed the dagger over to his commander and king. "Look. There's blood on it…her blood."

"How are you so certain that it's hers?" Lancelot shifted the girl's weight.

"She's the only one with a stab wound." Tristan shrugged, though the gesture never reached his eyes. That shrug could have meant anything, coming from him.

"Ah!" Lancelot let out a sigh, unable to hide his frustration of this whole matter.

Arthur concealed the smirk that wanted to play on his lips. This was certainly no time to jest. "Dag, take care of our new guest. Lancelot and the rest of you…" His eyes fell on the two knights that seemed incapable of moving on their on. "The ones that are able to, meet at the round table. It seems we have many things to discuss."

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Thank you to the person who commented on the last chap...I truely do appreciate your words. Those words are what will allow me to grow into a better writter...so thank you...and I hope you all enjoy this new chapter as much as the last.  



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